Capping off an air return?


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Old 10-07-16, 03:03 PM
J
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Capping off an air return?

Hello everyone,

I am new to this site, in hopes of getting some feedback for a question I have regarding the HVAC system in the house i just bought.

A brief description of the home....it is a 2400 sq. ft. home, split level style with the exception of the kitchen, dining room and 2nd living room with a vaulted ceiling on one side of the house. The furnace is located downstairs and has air registers in every room. The system has 3 air returns, one above the wood stove in the downstairs, one in the upstairs hallway and the 3rd high up towards the vaulted ceiling in the dining room.

I am big on using the wood stove and try to use it as much as i can instead of the furnace. It is a new style wood stove (catalytic burning) and it gets the downstairs hot in a hurry. With one air return directly above the wood stove, I thought I could circulate the air using the HVAC fanto pump that hot air to the rest of the house. However, while that downstairs area is very hot, the other areas where the air returns are located are still cool, so the hot air being pulled from the downstairs air return is mixing with the cool air from the other air returns.

This leads to my question for you all.....is it at all ok to cap off one of the air returns? For instance, I want to cap off the air return near the vaulted ceiling to limit the amount of cool air being mixed with the hot wood stove air. Is this something that is done at all? Is this potentially harmful to the HVAC system? I do realize all systems are different and it's probably best to hire a professional to come into the home and look at the system before answering this question, but i thought i'd start here and ask, in general, is this something that anyone does? I imagine many folks out there use wood burning heat and air circulation as primary heat sources? Any and all information is very much appreciated. As winter approaches i'd like to find the most efficient way to heat my home and would love to make that happen via burning wood. Thank you all for your time reading this.

-Jeff
 
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Old 10-07-16, 03:46 PM
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Welcome to the forums.

I actually know several people that use wood or a pellet stove for primary heat. They have found that there is not enough circulation with the HVAC system to justify leaving it running. One guy has a duct in the basement from the stove that helps circulate the air to the other end of the house.

Can you close off a return..... maybe. Most likely yes but there are consequences. Since that system also handles A/C..... that return is still needed when running A/C.

Does that ductwork handle ANY heating of the house ? (not counting the stove)
If it does.... the effect of the closing of the return will need to be determined.
 
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Old 10-07-16, 04:09 PM
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Hi Pjmax and thanks for the reply. I have found that circulating the air when I have the wood stove cranking tends to keep the rest of the house slightly warm, but definitely not as warm as i though it would. For example, last night I had the downstairs at 77F (it started at 66 before the fire) from the wood stove and the rest of the house got up to 67F (started from 65 before the fire). It seems as if the circulation of the hot air isn't as efficient as i'd like, possibly sue to the other air returns sucking in cold air from the other parts of the house?

In regards to your response.....

Our house does not have A/C or a heatpump. Strictly a furnace for heat and a fan to circulate air.

The ductwork handles the heat from the furnace and the fan for circulation. I'd like to think I won't use the furnace much, but i know there will be times when i'll need heat in a hurry and can't wait for the wood stove to heat up.

-Jeff-
 
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Old 10-07-16, 05:17 PM
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One guy has a duct in the basement from the stove that helps circulate the air to the other end of the house.
Not sure if Pete was mentioning me, but we have a plenum heater in our basement (wood burning) and I duct it from its plenum to my ductwork. BUT, it has its own fan which is absolutely necessary as the fan on the HVAC will not move enough air.

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As far as closing the highest return, I am not sure I would do that, since that is the hottest air in the house, anyway. I'd want it to recirculate down as a warm air return. Others will probably have more answers, so hang in there.
 
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Old 10-09-16, 07:27 AM
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Thanks for your input. In my case the highest return is actually the coldest air because the heat from the wood stove isn't making it to that high vaulted ceiling. That return is pulling in cold air and mixing with the hot air from the return above the wood stove. I was thinking maybe closing off one of the return sucking in cold would better help circulate the hot air from the wood stove. ???
 
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Old 10-09-16, 09:41 AM
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You don't have cold air in a vault, sorry. Cold air falls and hot air rises. If you have a ceiling fan, turn it on reverse on low speed. It will take all your air and wash the walls, keeping it all the same temperature.
 
 

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